A long time
ago, I met a man named Frank Castle. We never got along. It wasn’t his goals I
objected to…he and I both fought crime and criminals, we had that in common…but
as you would expect from a man called “The Punisher,” his methods tended toward
the despicably violent.

Despite a
bitter enmity, circumstances have forced us into a temporary alliance.
Spider-Man…Frank…his new accomplice, Cole and I are working an elaborate sting
on the strict condition that Frank forgo killing just for tonight. It eats me
alive that one night’s the best I can bargain for. Once, years ago, I went
all-out to pull Frank back from the edge before he went over. I was too late.

But
sometimes…just sometimes…you get a second chance.

WRITING:

Mark Waid is
back in his own book “Daredevil”. Waid has worked collaboratively with Greg
Rucka over the course of the last few months to finally be able to release the
much anticipated crossover event titled “The Omega Effect”; which involved Avenging
Spider-Man, The Punisher and Daredevil books.

In Daredevil
#11, Waid has the responsibility of wrapping of the crossover with a compelling
story about second chances. That seems to be the strongest theme in this book.
Waid explores this theme thoroughly with Daredevil and Rachel Cole-Alves. The
concept works well but it somehow felt like it was at the expense of the larger
characters that the crossover highly touted. Waid and Rucka worked diligently
to tell a story involving these beloved characters but by the end of it all
there seemed to be little actual resolution. This was somewhat of a
disappointment to me personally but I have a strong feeling that it told in
this way to allow for future freedoms within the respective titles for
Spider-Man, Punisher and Daredevil.

Rating – “B”

ARTWORK:

Checchetto
finished up his work on the Omega Effect in an extremely strong fashion. He
draws a young Frank during the early days of his conflicts with Daredevil and
this issue provides for the most action yet in the crossover. Checchetto does a
fantastic job at creating tension with the action sequences and in the quietter more
dialogue driven scenes.

I was very
satisfied with each page of not only this issue but also the whole Omega Effect
crossover. Marco has outdone himself once again!

Rating – “A+”

STORY:

(Warning:
Possible Spoilers)

The story
boils down to a standoff between Rachel Cole-Alves and Daredevil after Rachel
betrayed DD last issue. (See Punisher #10) This confrontation, which has heavy
dialogue, centers around DD trying to convince Cole-Alves that she needs to
give the Omega Drive back and to change her ways before it is too late. DD argues
that there is no valid reason to live a life of vengeance that is filled with
murder. He explains that every super-hero has struggled through some sort of
loss and that she is no different in that regards.

Rachel seems
to listen to DD to the point of returning the Omega Drive but she doesn’t seem
fully convinced by the end that she shouldn’t walk down the same path that
Frank has walked down. This was somewhat confusing to me as a reader as to why
there would have been such a dichotomy with her character in her interactions
with DD.

Ultimately
DD gets the drive back and now he is back to square one. He has a device with
powerful information that he could be hunted down for. Where will this lead?

I do feel
that Punisher’s involvement in this whole story was less than satisfactory as a
long-time fan. Not only did I feel like
Frank’s interactions with DD and Spidey weren’t consistent with his character I
also struggled with the aspect that Frank had no plan to get around DD and
Spidey’s wishes to not take life. Not saying that there isn’t a long-term
possibility of where this all will lead to but it just seemed odd to me.

Lastly, I do
understand that with crossovers of this nature you have to be terribly careful.
I do feel that Rucka and Waid did a very good job at being sensitive to fans of
these individual series without alienating them. I do however, wish there would
have been some kind of fallout from this series that would be more apparent. I
do know from Rucka’s run that a lot of things have become somewhat of a
slow-burn, which may be what is happening right before our eyes.

Rating – “C+“

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:

This issue
had tons of action and even some tense and more quiet dialogue scenes. That
entertained me tons! I was also anxiously anticipated the last few pages as I
had no idea where this all was leading to. The book goes by fast with all the
action and if you are a fan of Spider-Man, Daredevil or the Punisher then you
are in for a treat.